Camber Outdoors, formerly the Outdoor Industries Women’s Coalition (OIWC), named the winners of its 2016 Bicycle Leadership Awards Sponsored by Bicycle Retailer and Industry News (BRAIN). Stella Yu, founder and GM of Velo Saddles, will receive the Pioneering Woman Award and Katie Thompson, industrial design manager at Quality Bike Products (QBP) will receive the First Ascent Award. Both awards will be presented at the Camber Outdoors Keynote and Leadership Awards on Wednesday, September 21 at the 2016 Interbike International Expo.
The Pioneering Woman and First Ascent awards were created to honor women who have made significant achievements in the bicycle industry while working toward greater diversity and inclusion in the workplace. Nominated by their peers, recipients represent the present and future generations of innovative leaders in the industry.
“We’re proud to honor Stella and Katie for their significant contributions and achievements to the bicycle industry,” said Deanne Buck, executive director of Camber Outdoors. “Recognizing talented and influential individuals like these women are key to not only providing role models to other women in the industry, but to shine a spotlight on the important role women’s leadership and diversity of thought for greater industry sustainability and relevance.”
Camber Outdoors’ mission is to achieve equality for all women in the outdoors, from backcountry to boardroom. From its CEO Pledge to its cross-industries mentoring program, Camber Outdoors supports greater business sustainability and relevance resulting in growth of the active-outdoor industries through attraction, retention and promotion of women in the workplace.
In addition to the awards presentation, Donna Carpenter, chief executive officer of Burton Snowboards, will be the keynote speaker.
For more information about Camber Outdoors or the event, visit CamberOutdoors.org.
